Sermon on Joy (1 of 3)

Joy as a Fruit of the Spirit and a Foundational Biblical Theme

Great. Lord God, thank you so much for your people, thank you for your word, and thank you for speaking to us, God, and for showing us exactly who you are. Thank you for showing us how we can love you and love our our neighbor.

And God, I pray, I pray along with Chris and everyone here, God, that we know that this time of year can be difficult for people. We also know that it can be very joyous for people as well, God, and so I pray that you would help us to practice the gift of joy, God.

I know in my videos this week I mentioned that joy is a fruit of the Spirit and how all of the other fruits of the Spirit, they seem kind of different than joy sometimes. Like, we can practice love, we can practice self-control, but sometimes I feel like we think joy is just something that we don't really have any control over.

We just either have it or we don't. And God, I just pray that you would help us to learn how to practice having joy in you and your word and also the things that you've made, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.

So I'm going to start this morning with a little story that probably more than half of you won't be able to relate to, but you'll understand anyway. I think you'll see what I mean in a minute. So one time, a little more recently than I would care to admit, I was playing a video game and it was like an online kind of cooperative video game, right?

So me and a bunch of other guys were trying to defeat this sort of digital monster, right? It was this digital boss monster and it was very difficult. It was the kind of thing where each person had their own specific job and there was different steps that you had to do in order to defeat him.

So some of us were like attacking him, you know, trying to damage him. The others were healing the group as we took damage so that we wouldn't lose. And there were still others that their whole job was to sort of distract the monster so that the other ones could do their thing.

And so it was complex and everyone had to do the right thing. Otherwise we would just lose. And so we finally completed the mission. The digital dragon was slain and we were all rewarded with a random item.

And the way it worked was when you win, there's sort of like this randomized reward that you get. And some of them are better than others, but we all wanted the same one. There's one that was clearly the best.

And I had done this encounter a number of times and I never got it. It was just sort of like pulling the slot machine and, you know, you never win the jackpot kind of thing. It was a rocket launcher. And it was awesome because it looked really cool, but it was also really powerful.

So people that would play versus each other, against each other, whoever had this rocket launcher was always going to win essentially. So at the end of the encounter, I took my turn, I approached the treasure chest, I pressed the X button, and there it was.

I finally got it. I remember being so excited. I remember I even said the name of the weapon out loud. I was like, Jallerhorn, I have it! It's finally mine. Months of effort had paid off. And I was about to wreck some opponents in the multiplayer.

So in that moment, right, so half of you can relate, I think. But maybe the other half really can't. And you think I'm nuts. Why would I be so excited about this stupid digital reward? But here's the thing.

All of us have felt that instant of joy, that instant moment of happiness and euphoria. We've all felt it before. And it's actually science that says that you felt this before, even if you've never played a video game.

Because you see, in that moment, when I found exactly what I was looking for, my brain released a chemical transmitter called dopamine. And dopamine feels really good. People used to call it the pleasure chemical, because the brain released it when you were feeling good or feeling happy.

But it's actually a lot more important than that. It's not just about the feels. You see, dopamine, the chemical, is intricately linked to this reward system in the brain. And so when you find what you're looking for, or when you accomplish a task, your brain releases this dopamine and you feel really good.

And the point is that your brain is sort of training itself to want to accomplish more goals. So you remember, oh wow, that felt really good when I accomplished this goal. Or when I was searching and I finally found something, your brain is telling itself that it's good, so you should try to accomplish more goals.

So this joy I felt in this video game, this little moment of euphoria, is actually very useful to me as a person. Because the next time I set out doing a goal, even if it's not a video game goal, my brain will be trying to egg me along, so to speak.

So you see, I've just proved that video games can be very beneficial to your life. So that's why I say even if you've never played a video game, you can relate to this example, because you've all tried to accomplish a goal and have done so.

So you felt the same kind of joy, the same emotion that I felt when I found this weapon. So you know how it feels to accomplish a challenging task. And so most people's brains, there are some pathologies that the dopamine response isn't the exact same, it's actually different, but most people's brains work the same way.

God Created the World for Joy

You see, God created the world and everything in it. That much is obvious to those of us in this room. We believe that foundationally as Christians. You know, as Christians, we start with God's creation and we go from there and we explore how it works, right?

So I mentioned dopamine, not to reduce everything that we experience to chemicals and matter, that's not what I'm trying to do, but I'm mentioning it to you to show that God has created the world in such a way for his creatures to be able to experience joy.

And it's not just joy for the sake of joy, it's actually very beneficial and useful in God's creation. That might sound obvious that God wants us to enjoy his world, but I wonder for some of us, especially in the Reformed camp, I wonder if it really is obvious that God wants us to enjoy life.

Because I think back on the many sermons I've listened to and they've, for the most part, have been fantastic. How many sermons have I heard about suffering? How many sermons have I heard about losing your life in order to find it?

How many sermons have I heard about joining the death march, taking up your cross and following Jesus? I've heard tons of sermons about those things, but how many have I actually heard about joy? I could probably count on one hand how many I've heard about joy.

Now I don't know if it's just, it might be just the kind of sermons that I'm attracted to, right? Because I travel in certain circles and I click certain YouTube videos and so maybe it's my fault that I don't hear a lot of sermons about joy.

And that's also not to say that sermons about suffering and persecution and things like that, they're not bad because the Bible clearly talks about that stuff. But the Bible talks about joy as well. Joy is a foundational concept in the Bible.

I heard a fundamentalist, I didn't hear him, but I saw a fundamentalist on Twitter talking about how fun and happiness is not a part of Christianity. Like, he literally said it. This wasn't a joke. Like, he was saying that there's a foreign concept in the Bible and I couldn't believe it.

You see, rejoicing is a foundational emotion in the life of a Christian, so I wonder why doesn't it get too much airtime? I one time watched a video of John Piper. He was interviewing one of my favorite Christian commentators.

It was actually more of a cross examination to be honest. He was interviewing Doug Wilson and Doug Wilson at the time had a ministry and the tagline for the ministry, sort of the motto of the ministry, was this.

It said, living out the good life one family at a time. And John Piper did not like that pretty much because to him, and in fact at the same time as I had watched this video, I had seen another video where he was definitively saying that Christianity was not about the good life, and so to him that tagline didn't make any sense.

And in a way he's right because Christianity is not only about living the good life, but in a way John Piper is very wrong because the Christian life is about joy and rejoicing and John Piper knows this.

Piper loves writing about joy, especially these days. If you've kind of followed John Piper through his progression as a speaker and a writer, I think it's probably an example of a young John Piper versus an older John Piper because I think age kind of has a way of mellowing us out a little bit.

John Piper these days writes about joy all the time. This is a great quote from John Piper. He tries to define what joy is, which you can go with a dictionary definition or you can follow a guy like Piper who tries to put a Christian spin on it, and I think this is really good.

Listen to this. He says, Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul produced by the Holy Spirit as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world. I love that definition. That's a great definition.

Very Piper-esque and very true. So I want to spend the next two or three Sundays in this season on the concept of joy and this morning I'm going to read from the opening chapters of Genesis to sort of set the foundation.

Joy in Genesis 2: Food, Work, Art, and Family

Joy, again, is a foundational concept in the Bible and it starts here in Genesis. So this is Genesis chapter 2. These are the words of God. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created and the day that the Lord God made the heavens and the earth when no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up for God had not caused it to rain on the land and there was no man to work the ground and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature and the Lord God planted a garden Eden in the east and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

The tree of life was in the midst of the garden the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon.

It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah where there is gold. The gold of that land is good. The Delium and Onyx stone are there. And the name of the second river is the Gihon it is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush.

And the name of the third one is the Tigris which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying you may surely eat of any tree in the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

Then the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them.

And whatever the man called every living creature that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

So the Lord God caused deep sleep to fall upon the man and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Then the man said this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh and the man of his excuse me the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

This is the word of the Lord. It's a great passage. A lot of us probably know that very well. A lot of beautiful language in the passage. So much information about our God and what he created. So much information also about the purpose of creation the meaning of life what we're created to do.

It's just a great passage. One thing you might have noticed if you were paying attention is as I read that the word joy is not used in it. In fact I used my handy young's concordance before writing a sermon and I looked up the word joy and the different variants of the word and I can't find the word joy or rejoicing or anything like that until there's only one reference in Genesis and it's all the way in chapter 31.

And then the next reference is there's a lot of them in the books of the law. But not till later of course but even just even though the word joy is not here I think the concept of joy is all over the passage.

The way this passage describes what God has created. There is just so much beauty in it and I think there is so much joy. I don't think you can read that passage and come out with any other idea besides that God intended from the very beginning God intended his creatures to enjoy what he has created.

For example I think this is very clear in this passage that God intends his people to have joy in their food. For example verse 15 says the Lord God commanded the man saying you may surely eat of every tree in the garden.

Think about that. Think about all that's included in that just little statement. Right. How many different trees and plants and roots and different things that are that are that God created how many different flavors and textures and combinations of flavors and textures or different preparations.

Like how much is included in that statement. Like I often think that God could have made food totally utilitarian. Right. Like it just nutrition. It keeps us going it keeps us alive. And that would be it.

Right. But God didn't do that. God gave us all these different flavors and just amazing things. And and I think that shows us that God wants us to enjoy. It's not just for our sustenance it's also to enjoy.

You remember I told you I don't remember when this was but a while ago I said if you can believe it chili peppers and chocolate the flavor actually goes together and it's awesome. That is bizarre and weird.

And I think that God intends us to find stuff like that and have joy in what we eat. Think about it like food is pleasurable. That is really weird. Why should it be just an amazing gift from God. God also intended from this passage that we would have joy in our work.

Right. Verse 15 says the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. You see like work was already already part of the plan all the way from Genesis 2. Right. Like this is part of why God created us.

He he creates this garden with all this food and all this beauty. And then he puts the man there to work it and to keep it growing and to create and to improve the land to make it better than it started.

He even gives the man authority over the land we we see that in this passage where God gives Adam the authority to name the animals. So God creates all these animals. But then he's like you know what my man here over here he'll he'll name them like that's amazing.

Work was always part of the plan and I wonder how much work it took to name the animals. I don't have to wonder because there's whole fields of study about naming animals and it's complicated and weird.

And there's different ways you can do it. So work was always part of a plan. And I think you know if you think back on your lives there have been times where you experience pleasure or joy out of a job well done.

Not all the time. But sometimes after there's a job that's completed there's a satisfaction that you get an enjoyment that you get your dinner tastes better. Right. Your house is more comfortable. There's a joy that comes from work.

I personally feel that way after I'm done shoveling snow. I like shoveling snow. I like shoveling snow a lot. And when I'm done the warmth of the house the taste of the hot chocolate or whatever you decide to drink.

There is a joy that comes from that work can absolutely be pleasurable. What an amazing thing. This passage also tells us that God intended us to have joy in art. Right. Verse 10 I've mentioned this before.

A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. It divided and became four rivers. Then it talks about the different rivers. The first one is the Pishon. It says that there's gold there. The gold of the land is good.

There's bedellium. There's onyx stone there. You see those are all precious metals and stones and these these things these metals. They don't really have a utilitarian use. At least at this time. Right.

Like they couldn't make tools with gold. Like it was too soft. You can't do work with a gold pick or something like that. These are metals and minerals that are used to make art. These are things that you use to make beautiful pieces of art.

You see God even in later in the bible he talks about you know building the tabernacle in the ark. And it's used. It uses gold. It uses silver. It uses all these kinds of things. So you see all the way from the beginning God intended his people to make art and to make a culture that was beautiful that was rich.

There's a joy that comes with art. Whether it's physical art like a statue or a painting. Or you know whether it's a novel or a play or a movie or music like art is pleasurable. It gives us joy. What an amazing gift.

One final thing I want to talk about from this passage is I think it's clear that God intends his people to have joy in their own families. Verse 23. Many men know this verse very well. Then then the man said this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

I think we can feel the joy in this passage. Adam breaks into song about the creation of the woman. And God talks about how each family will be its own like separate unit. Right. And families can focus on each other and love each other.

There's so much awesome theology in that. I think it's pretty clear that there's a joy with the creation of families. Families bring so much joy to so many people. What an amazing gift. So you see from the opening chapters of the bible the very beginning of the story God created things that were intended to bring joy to his people.

And one thing I've noticed about these things is that even non-christians have joy in these things. Even non-christians find joy in the same exact things because we're all made in God's image. And we're all made to have joy in the things that Christ has made.

And so that list you know food art work family these are things that are common to all mankind the pagan in the middle of the jungle who never heard of Christ all the way until you and I all you know all of us here in a church worshiping Christ and the person who's never heard of Christ we all find joy in the same things that Christ has made at the foundations of the earth.

That's an intentional thing that is by design and that is legitimate. So you see when John Piper says that the definition of joy is that you see the beauty of Christ in the world he's foundationally and fundamentally completely correct.

But of course as Christians and actually non-christians too we know that it's not just all joy all the time because we know that the story of the garden of Eden does not end in chapter two. So next week we're going to talk about what happened to this amazing beautiful joy-filled garden.

Because let's face it all of these things food art work family all of these things aren't completely joyous anymore. Like these things all of them in their own different way have been twisted and now they're a mixture of joy and sadness.

Their pleasure. Yes but they're spiked with pain like my favorite red hot chili pepper song says like does anyone have nothing but complete joy in their work anymore. I don't think any hands will go up there.

Does anyone here not have any guilt or shame issues regarding the foods that they consume. I don't think we'll get many hands there either. Also does anyone have the perfect family where there's nothing but a hundred percent joy all the time.

None of us do. So we know something happened between Genesis 2 and now that has jacked it all up and next week we will talk about why things got messed up and how it affects our joy. But before we wrap up today I wanted to show you that God has had a plan to save his people but not only that he also has a plan to restore our joy.

God has a plan to return us to the state that we would have had in the garden and even more. So so let's turn to the law of God. The law of God. Really that's kind of a weird place to go for joy right.

Like why do you got to bring the law into this. I can hear somebody saying that and I understand the law is often presented as a burden. The law is often presented as a curse. And I get why people think that.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Now the law has curses in it for those who break it which is everybody. But the law itself is not a curse. You see the law is about love and joy and not only that but the law shows us how we can live in order to love our God and love our neighbor.

So when we practice the law we're practicing the love of God but not only that. The law points us to Jesus Christ who is the ultimate plan to save his people and restore their joy. So let's turn to the law for a moment.

Joy, the Law, and Deuteronomy 14

This is Deuteronomy 14. There are numerous passages that are very similar. In fact we read one earlier but I chose Deuteronomy 14 because it was particularly colorful and interesting. God is talking to his people in Deuteronomy 14 about partaking in a feast with a portion of their tithe.

I've mentioned this verse before. This is verse 22. I'll read probably a paragraph. God tells his people about the tithe. He says you shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.

And before the Lord your God in the place that he will choose to make his name dwell there you shall eat the tithe of your grain and your wine and your oil and the firstborn of your herd and flock that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always and if the way is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe when the Lord your God blesses you because the place is too far from you which the Lord God chooses to set his name there.

Then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place of the Lord your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink whatever your appetite craves you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice you and your household.

I heard a fundamentalist down the street cry out in pain. No not the wine the strong drink. But seriously did you hear what God said there. He says whatever you crave any kind of meat whatever meat you want that's the kind you can get.

What about the doesn't God know about the risk of gluttony. Did you hear what God said. He said you can you can get. You can buy whatever you want. You can buy wine. You can buy strong drink. Like whatever my appetite craves.

What about the risk of drunkenness. Shouldn't we be more careful than that doesn't God know. And in a way yeah. We should be careful not to be gluttonous. We should be careful not to be drunk. That is true.

But seriously God knows this. God knows about these risks. And he says whatever your appetite craves and you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice you and your household. See this is a command to have joy in our families.

This is a command to have joy in our food and our drink. This is a command. And if you notice he ties this command of joy into fearing the Lord. Right. So he says you'll have joy. You'll rejoice with your family.

And by doing that you'll show that you fear the Lord. If you respect and honor God you will be obedient and have joy in his creation. That's a command. So whatever his people's appetite craves that's what he wants them to do.

And that's what will show that they fear him. You see he's not commanding people to sin. Right. Obviously. But he is commanding people to rejoice. Which means that that weirdo twitter person that i mentioned earlier is completely wrong.

Because if you fear God you will have fun. That's what the Bible says. So he's not commanding people to sin but he is commanding people to have joy to feast. He's commanding his people to party. And this is a command that God makes knowing full well how sin has twisted all of these things.

God knows full well that sin in many ways has ruined the joy that he meant us to experience in the world. He knows it and he knows that our joy can cause us pain. And he knows that his gifts have been twisted and now cause us pain.

Yet he still commands to practice joy. Look don't hear me saying and i really hope you hear this. Do not hear me saying that we should throw caution to the wind. Because if you have a plot problem with gluttony you need to take steps to fight that sin in what you eat.

So even as you fight gluttony God commands you to have joy in the food that you eat because God created that graciously and lovingly for you to enjoy. So you can enjoy food even as you fight gluttony you have a problem with alcohol or or anything like that.

You have to take steps to fight that sin. But there is still joy legitimate joy that can be had in wine and strong drink. The bible proves it. You see here's the thing all of these things food wine strong drink family art work all of these things are gifts from God.

But all of them have been twisted by sin all of them we're going to talk next week about that. But even though all of those things have been twisted by sin and can bring us pain and can and can hurt us and hurt others that is no excuse to not find joy in those gifts.

There's no excuse. You see in a few weeks we're going to talk about how Christ has redeemed every single one of those things every single one of these gifts Christ has redeemed and saved us not only from our sins but also from a joyless existence.

Because even in the here and now God's people can have joy from the Lord in everything that he has made. What a what a generous and gracious God we serve. One time I remember hearing a brother say and he meant well and I know what he meant and so I you know I don't think that he was intending to to be unbiblical or anything like that.

But I remember one time he said that that he didn't think it was a sin to drink alcohol. But if you would ever and your life been an alcoholic than it was because you've kind of given up the right to have joy with alcohol even even a little bit if you've ever abused it in your life.

That was that was his point. And I think he meant to say you know you shouldn't risk it which I agree you shouldn't risk it. If if a sip of wine is going to tempt you to go too far then yeah don't risk it.

But that's not true man what he said is not true. If you've ever abused food or if you've ever abused having a family or anything like that or or God forbid you abuse sex. Are you literally saying you've given up that right.

And God Christ cannot redeem those things. That is not true. Christ has redeemed all of these things. And so I think clearly God wants us to have joy in partaking with what our heart desires. So if you enjoy cooking and various cuisines from around the world if you enjoy baking go ahead cook and bake and have fun.

You enjoy playing video games on your spare time or even weirder you enjoy playing tabletop games. Go ahead man have fun. You enjoy writing or painting or building or fixing. Go ahead. Have fun. God wants us to have joy in what we set out to have joy in this is natural.

This is good. All of those things I just mentioned yeah you could go too far. You could go too far. Every one of us has heard stories of people where video game takes over their lives. Maybe even some of us have experience.

I know I have I've done a thing where I start playing a video game and then I I'm done. And it's morning. Like what happened there. Like that's completely overboard by the way don't also hear me saying that this is all about you having your best life now.

That's not what this is about. Don't hear me saying that because our best life is in the future with Christ and no sin. That's our best life. But just because it's not our best life now does not mean it can't be a good life.

It does not mean it can't be a life full of joy. Because when you're walking with the Lord there will always be difficulties. But it'll always be a good life. That's how good our Lord is he he doesn't just save us from our sins for the future sometime.

But he saves us in the here and now. He restores our joy. He didn't have to do that but he does. And I look forward to showing you more about why he does it and how he does it in the future. So let's pray God.

I pray that you would help your people meditate on what what what joy looks like what how we can have joy when we're in difficult situations. I pray that you would help us to know how to rejoice in our suffering.

Not because we're suffering. No nobody's rejoices in suffering just for suffering's sake. But Lord. I pray that you would show us how you've redeemed our suffering how you've redeemed our difficult situations and what the point is that none of it is meaningless none of it is wasted.

None of it is something you didn't see coming you know like it's. It's not like that God it all has a purpose. And so I pray that you would help us to meditate on joy Lord. I also pray that you would help us to regain balance.

God at least myself. I'll pray for myself. I know that I focus too often on giving the part about giving up your life the part about joining the death march the part about suffering. But it's always whenever we see these things in the Bible there's always a next step.

There's always a point to it right. So help us not to just focus on giving up our lives. Help us focus on the next part of that which is to find it. Help us not to just focus on suffering for suffering's sake but help us to focus on suffering because it produces something in us God.

I ask that you would help me to regain that balance to to not just focus on the hard things not just focus on the difficult parts but also the the joy and the love and the peace. And it's the good that you have for us.

Lord. Thank you so much for all of those things God. And so I pray that you would help us to enjoy you. That you would help us to enjoy your word but also Lord that you would help us to enjoy the world that you created so lovingly and so perfectly for us God.

And that you would help us to do it in a way that that does not lead to sin that does not lead to licentiousness or just throwing caution to the wind or anything like that. But help us to enjoy these things in a legitimate God-honoring way in Jesus name amen all.

Right.